ENGL 284 A: Beginning Short Story Writing

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We are mortal beings. There is as yet no evidence of god. We live in a hyperdigitalized culture. Art is related to the body and to the culture. Art should reflect these things. Brevity rules.

A sustained argument for the excitement and urgency of brevity; a rally for compression, concision, and velocity; and a meditation on the brevity of human existence.

Participation counts. IT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR GRADE. However, please don’t comment just to comment. Try to contribute judiciously, effectively, thoughtfully, and generously.

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Office phone: 206.543.2247

Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter; I will send to you a word document so that we can use it via share-screen.

Students will read the book, do the prompts suggested by the book. We’ll do as many of them as we can. Read the whole book on your own, page by page, including the commentaries by Elizabeth Cooperman and me (we are the book’s co-editors). In class, students and I will discuss individual chapters AS WE HAVE TIME. Crucial that you read the book on your own, chapter by chapter as we go and/or all the way through.

In class, students will read aloud their work and critique one another’s work. THAT IS THE CORE FOCUS OF THE COURSE.

Students will learn the virtue of brevity, the key principles of literary composition in general (for novels, short stories, essays, etc.), and the many gestures available to the contemporary writer.

This is not a course in fiction or nonfiction. This is a course in prose composition or in prose stratgies. In how to write. YOU CAN WRITE WHATEVER YOU WANT: PROSE-POEM, ESSAY, FICTION, HYBRID WORK.

YOU CAN SUBMIT AS MANY REVISIONS AS YOU WANT DURING EXAM WEEK: DUE ON FRIDAY OF EXAM WEEK.

QUESTIONS? CONCERNS? REQUESTS? CORRECTIONS?

Jan 4.  Intro to course.

Jan 6. Intro to course.

Jan 11. Discuss 1^st assignment.

Jan 13. Same.

Jan 18. No Class. MLK Birthday.

Jan 20. Discuss 2^nd assignment.

Jan 25. Same.

Jan 27. Discuss 3^rd assignment.

Feb 1. Same.

Feb 3. Discuss 4^th assignment.

Feb 8. Same.

Feb 10. Discuss 5^th assignment.

Feb 15. No class. Presidents’ Day.

Feb 17. Discuss 5^th assignment.

Feb 22. Discuss 6^th assignment.

Feb 24. Same.

Mar 1. Discuss 7^th assignment.

Mar 3. Discuss 7th assignment.

Mar 8. Catching up/general discussion.

March 10. Last class. Catching up/general discussion.